Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTTrevor Jennewine, The Motley FoolThu, June 4, 2026 at 11:08 AM GMT+2 5 min readSpaceX will make history later this month, when it becomes the largest initial public offering (IPO) by market value in U.S. history. The company reportedly plans to target a $2 trillion valuation. Previously, Meta Platforms was the largest U.S.-based IPO, with an initial market value of $81 billion.SpaceX will trade on the Nasdaq Exchange under the ticker SPCX, and the company may list shares as early as June 12, according to Reuters. The IPO, likely to be a blockbuster event, is expected to draw particularly strong demand from retail investors, many of whom admire CEO Elon Musk.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »The market is so eager to own stock in the rocket and satellite company that the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is considering rule changes that would fast-track SpaceX's inclusion in the index. But investors need to see two alarming statistics before purchasing shares.Image source: Getty Images.Statistic 1: SpaceX could start trading at 103 times sales, 40% higher than the most expensive stock in the S&P 500SpaceX reportedly plans to go public with a market capitalization near $2 trillion, according to Bloomberg. The company reported $19.3 billion in sales over the past four quarters, which means its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio will be somewhere around 103, perhaps even higher if the stock pops on the first trading day.That is an absurdly expensive valuation. For context, Palantir Technologies currently has the highest P/S ratio in the S&P 500 at 73. If SpaceX goes public at 103 times sales, it will immediately be about 40% more expensive than the most richly valued stock in the index. A premium of that magnitude is unsustainable.I reviewed more than 100 of the most popular technology stocks and identified only eight that had valuations above 100 times sales at any point in history. All of those stocks dropped sharply after achieving peak P/S ratios, with an average peak-to-trough decline of 75%. In other words, history says SpaceX could lose three-quarters of its value at some point in the future.Statistic 2: The 10 largest U.S. IPO stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 by 127 percentage pointsSpaceX will be the largest IPO in U.S. history by initial market value, and stocks that go public with large market values typically lag the S&P 500 over time. In fact, since listing shares, the 10 largest U.S. IPO stocks on record have underperformed the S&P 500 by an average of 127 percentage points, according to FactSet Research.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info